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Robbers in Pennsylvania getting bolder violent says FBI

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (2/15/08)--Gangs of violent robbers have become bolder and more dangerous as they have cut a swath through central Pennsylvania during the past two years, targeting financial institutions, the FBI said. Not only are the robberies some of the most violent that the FBI has seen seen, the level of violence is escalating, which means it is just a matter of time before people get hurt, Arturo Canedo, FBI senior special agent, told the Harrisburg Patriot News (Lancaster New Era/Intelligencer Journal Feb. 9). The FBI believes that two unrelated pairs of robbers are perpetrating the holdups, netting more than $750,000 from financial institutions in Dauphin, Lancaster, Lycoming and York counties. On Oct. 25, two masked men entered Lanco FCU, a $44.3 million asset, Lancaster, Pa- based credit union. They jumped behind the counter and forced a female clerk away from the cash drawers, according to police. Although no weapons were brandished and no one was seriously injured, the robbers made off in white pickup truck with more than $6,000 in cash. The robbers appear to be organized, have a plan and are becoming increasingly aggressive, said Malinda C. Anderson, special agent with the FBI’s Harrisburg, Pa., bureau. Although they strike at different times of the day, both pairs use the same getaway mechanism--stealing a car that they then abandon in a parking a lot about a half-mile down the road, Anderson said.